Release
Your Challenge
When is a Release Solution required?
If you are involved with a process that results in problems with sticking, cleaning or contamination then you could probably benefit from a Release Solution of some kind.The process may be a cooking process such as grilling, baking or steaming.It could be a polymer process such as melting, reacting, gluing, laminating or casting. It could be a process that involves mixing, forming or drying.
All these processes create problems associated with sticking, cleaning and contamination – sticking of food, polymers, adhesives, dried ingredients – that need to be cleaned up at the end of the process or will contaminate the product if left in place during the process.Release Solutions can be used to reduce or even eliminate some of these sticking, cleaning and contamination problems.
What Is a Release Solution?
A release solution is any material used to reduce or eliminate problems associated with sticking, cleaning and contamination. They are generally materials which allow easy release from a working surface and are found in the form of polished surfaces, release (or non-stick) coatings, films or fabrics.Whatever is being processed on the Release Solution – the food, the polymer, the ingredient – will not react or stick to the Release Surface and if it does stick then it can be removed easily.
The CHEMFAB® Solution
When should I use a CHEMFAB® Release Solution?
Lots of materials can act as Release Solutions. However, CHEMFAB Release Solutions are designed as a flexible and universal option for multiple uses in the most demanding applications.
These are applications which involve high temperatures, aggressive ingredients such as hot oils, chemicals or molten polymers and also sometimes involving mechanical strain of the Release Solution itself.
CHEMFAB Release Solutions are used by customers who want uninterrupted and consistent production of their end-products.
How do CHEMFAB® Release Solutions work?
CHEMFAB Release Solutions are fluoropolymer based composites, reinforced with a woven scrim, usually glass or aramid fabric. The fluoropolymer is processed in such a way as to give a surface which is free of defects and imperfections meaning that hot oils, molten polymers or chemicals cannot attach or anchor into the surface. This leads to longer lasting release performance.
CHEMFAB Release Solutions are also mechanically stable, meaning that they can have tensioned applied, even at high temperature, and will still retain their dimensional stability.
Your Results
What are the benefits of using CHEMFAB® Release Solutions?
Consistent production with fewer unplanned stoppages associated with cleaning, sticking and contamination issues. Also, reduced clean up time associated with sticking and contamination.
Finally, where product appearance is important, such as in polymer processing and lamination applications, defect free surface finish of the final product is achievable.
What are the advantages of CHEMFAB® Release Solutions over other types of Release Solutions?
The number one advantage of CHEMFAB Release Solutions is consistency of performance over long periods of time. The second advantage is ease of installation and use.
Release coatings such as silicone based coatings can be very difficult and time consuming to apply. The performance is often dictated by the level of control of the thickness of the coating applied which again is very difficult to achieve on a consistent basis. Ideally the coating should be removed and the working surface made ready for re-application which again is a difficult process to control and also time consuming.
CHEMFAB Release Solutions come as rolls of fabric, cut to size sheets or continuous belts – easy to install and remove and come supplied with controlled release properties, so easy to handle for your operators or maintenance staff.
Fluoropolymer based release coatings such as spray coatings are again difficult to apply in a controlled way and have the added problem of adhesion. This means that your working surface needs to be very accurately prepared to take the fluoropolymer coating or else the coating will not adhere and will flake off into the product over time.
Also, removal of the coating at end of life is again time consuming and costly. CHEMFAB Release Solutions do not need special treatment of your working surface – they are your working surface, giving long lasting and controlled release properties until end of life when they can be easily removed ready for the next installation.
CHEMFAB Release Solutions are also available as an adhesive tape format allowing for accurate covering of an existing working surface if required.
Fluoropolymer films also act as Release Solutions, however these have very little mechanical stability causing problems in production due to creasing, folding or tearing of the film.
CHEMFAB Release Solutions are mechanically stable, even at high temperatures.
